NBC Series "The New Normal" Attracts Controversy

TV viewers who remember the famous 1997 "coming out" episode of "Ellen," or even the debut of "Will & Grace" a year later, know that network television has come a long way in the depiction of gays and lesbians. The two-time, Emmy-winning comedy "American Family" depicts a gay couple with an adopted daughter and next week, NBC plans to debut "The New Normal," a series about the relationship between a gay couple, their surrogate and her mother.

While LGBT viewers across the country already are eagerly anticipating this new addition to the network line-up, the show will not be seen in Salt Lake City. NBC's Utah affiliate, KSL-TV, which is owned by the Mormon Church, is refusing to air the new series created by Ryan Murphy and Ali Adler.

Comments

GAG'EM, 2012-09-15 14:45:37

I like the relationship of the gay couple and the surrogate and her daughter, but Ellen Barkin’s bigot character isn’t at all funny. It’s stupid and offensive. The terms she uses to describe the gay men are outdated and overused. No one talks like that; I don’t think anyone ever talked like that. I disapproving judgmental grandmother might me a good antagonist in a sitcom, but the bigotry has to go. And since when is a 58-year-old a grandmother to a 25-year-old and a great-grandmother to a 9-year-old. These people are from Ohio, but are they hillbillies?